In Reply to: Thank God It's Friday* posted by mh on August 21, 2026 at 07:11:50
The Cook Political Report on Thursday moved the open-seat Senate contests in Texas and Iowa to toss-ups, as they found strong Democratic candidates and a growing backlash to President Donald Trump are creating the perfect storm to flip these seats long held by the GOP.
“These two races, which had been in the Lean Republican column, now are close enough to merit a move to Toss-Up. Even though, on paper, it should be extraordinarily difficult for Democrats to flip seats that Trump won by more than 13 points, it’s increasingly hard to ignore both public and private polling that shows them more competitive than the Lean category reflects,” Cook Political Report editor Jessica Taylor wrote in a piece explaining the rating changes.
With the latest changes, the Cook Political Report says the battle for Senate control is now a toss-up as well, as Trump’s sinking approval rating and negative economic conditions could flip seats in states Trump carried by double-digit margins in 2024.